Process of cleaning fur coats



April 1943- R. E. ALBRECHT PROCESS OF CLEANING FUR COATS Filed June 21, 1941 3mm ALBRECHT ROBERT E Patented Apr. 13, 1943 sras PROCESS OF CLEANING FUR COATS Robert E. Albrecht, St. Paul, Minn, assignor to E. Albrecht & Son 00., St. Paul, Minn, a cor poration of Minnesota.

Application June 21, 1941, Serial No. 399,215

1 Claim.

may need a particular cleaning process, while the fur should be cleaned with a difierent cleaner or process so as not to damage the fur, it has been difiicult to accomplish the results desired with the old furrier method and without entirely separating the fur from the lining.

However, by my new process, I am able to clean fur coats without separating the lining from the fur, and without particles of sawdust adhering to the lining or becoming lodged between the lining and the leather of the fur coat. Further, my process reduces the labor and shortens the time required to thoroughly clean a fur coat.

My process protects the coat by providing a reinforcing means or temporary lining which also protects the lining and. is of a nature to act to clean the lining by absorbing any'soil from the fur coat lining which is picked up by the auxiliary temporary lining used in carrying out my process.

Heretoiore, in using the furrier methodjthe first step was to sew up all rips in thefur and lining of the coat to be cleaned, either from'the inside or the leather side of the coat, or from the outside. The purpose of sewing up all rips before cleaning a coat is to prevent the sawdust and other substance used in the drums in the cleaning process, from working into the coat and between the lining and the fur. With this old furrier method, a great deal of trouble has been encountered and time required to remove the sawdust from between the fur and the lining after the coat has been cleaned in the fur drum. Furthermore, with this old process, no matter how well it was carried out, particles of sawdust would adhere to the lining, seams, and leather, as well as the stay-cloth basted on the leather, and this sawdust gradually works down to the bottom of the coat, sometimes weeks or months later, making an unsightly bulge between the lining and the leather of the fur coat. v

The second step in the old furrier method was to brush the fur of the coatwith a solvent,

either completely or where the most. soil showed in the fur, which as a rule is usually on the back of the collar or the front edges, as well as the edges of the cuffs. The purpose of using the solvent on the fur is to loosen up the soil and grease in the fur to aid the sawdust or other absorbin material in the fur drum, so that it will absorb this dirt and grease as the drumming process proceeds. j

The third step in theffurrier method resided in sponging the entire lining of the coat with solvent, the purpose ofwhich is thesame as stated above in the secondstep, namely, to, loosen the soil and dirt on the liningto. enable it to be more readily absorbed in this old furrier method by the sawdust which also has a nature to absorb dirt and grease from the fur.

To assist inv describing and setting forth my method, I have illustrated in the drawing in Figure 1, a fur coat having my auxiliary lining secured thereto. j

Figure 2 illustrates a perspective View ofv my auxiliary lining which I use in carrying out my process, the lining being made of absorbent material, such as turkish toweling, or similar material, and being shaped more or less like a regular lining of a fur coat. A

Figure 3 is a phantom view of a fur coat, showing the relative positioning and securing of my auxiliary lining which diagrammatically appears as though the lining was cut in half, thusshowing the back half of the lining. Y .1

Figure 4 is a diagrammatic detail or the chain stitch whichis preferably employed to holdmy auxiliary lining in the fur coat so that the lining may be ripped out easily and quickly after it has served its purpose as will be more fully hereinafter described.

In carrying out my process, the first step of the furrier method is used, whichflconsists incarefully sewing up all rips in the fur and lining.

, Then the lining is thoroughly cleaned up a suitable grease and dirt solvent and the fur around the neck and collar as well as around the cufis, is cleaned if necessary by a suitablesolvent.

The next step of my process resides in stitching into the body and sleeves of the fur coat A, an auxiliary lining B made of toweling material (such as turkish toweling), which has a very absorbent nature, this auxiliary; lining B being stitched with a chain stitch Ill, preferably, around the entire marginal edge H of the fur coat and completely across the wrist openings of the sleeves l2 which stitching IE closes the sleeve openings. The stitching, may be done by a sewing machine (such as the Union Special Machine Company makes, No. IBOOAA), or by any other suitable means of applying stitching. The stitching is extended around the edges of the coat while the sleeves are stitched closed as above set forth.

The auxiliary lining B is formed with a body portion 14 similar to a regular body portion of a lining and with the sleeve portions IS. The lining B is made of turkish toweling, or other absorbent toweling material, having a body and surface of an absorbent, flufiy nature so as to provide a material of a very absorbent nature. This lining B is stitched as above set forth into the fur coat so that the lining not only covers the entire original lining of the fur coat, but projects a little beyond the marginal edge of the regular lining so as to virtually seal the original lining of the coat from coming in contact with any of the sawdust or other cleaning material used in the drumming cleaning process.

In my cleaning process before the lining B is attached, the original lining is thoroughly cleaned and while the same is still wet with solvent, my auxiliary lining B is attached to the fur coat, and thus the absorbent toweling of my lining B comes in contact with the solvent-wet lining of the fur coat, the auxiliary lining B absorbing the loose dirt. Thus instead of the sawdust coming in contact with the lining of the fur coat when the coat is cleaned in the drum wherein the sawdust is used, my liner B contacts the lining of the fur coat and is virtually massaged against the lining of the fur coat, absorbing the solvent from th lining and taking up any soil or dirt from the original lining in a better and more satisfactory manner than has been accomplished heretofore by the old process where the sawdust is relied on to clean the lining.

With my process in covering the original lining of the fur coat with the towel-like liner B which is stitched down tightly to the coat on the lining side, I reduce the labor cost and waste of time involved in the use of the "furrier method, because I eliminate the sawdust from Working into the lining and thus I overcome the laher, time and expense of removing the sawdust. My process is more desirable because in the furrier method of cleaning fur coats, it is virtually impossible to remove all the sawdust from the lining and leather of the fur coat. The labor involved in the furrier method might include the opening of the lining either to a small or large extent, depending on how much sawdust had entered into the lining or the seams of th same, which usually is taken out by compressed air, vacuum, or by brushing and such other devices as heaters and the like.

Further, by covering the regular lining of the fur coat with my auxiliary lining B which absorbs the loosened soil on the inside of the auxiliary toweling lining, my process permits a different type of solvent to b used on the lining than is used on the fur of the coat. A further objection to the old furrier method is that whatever solvent material is used on the lining, is absorbed and picked up by the sawdust and brought into contact with the fur, thus making it difiicult to really thoroughly clean the lining and at the sam time clean the fur without damage to the same. Furthermore, in many cases in cleaning a fur coat, no solvent is required on the fur, and a better cleaning may be eifected on the fur with perfectly clean sawdust moistened with water which increases its absorbing qualities.

Therefore, the importance of my method will be readily apparent because it actually permits the lining to be more thoroughly cleaned as well as the fur, and for the first time permits virtually two separate cleaning processes to be carried on simultaneously, (1) the cleaning of the fur, and (2) the cleaning of the lining, without removing the lining from the coat. However, in carrying out my process, the fur coat is run in the fur drum with the cleaning sawdust which operates primarily to clean the fur or hair of the coat, in exactly the same way as in the old furrier method, except as above stated, wherein a solvent is used on the lining if desired, and the proper method is used to clean the fur with no danger of the lining solvent cleaning material coming in contact with the sawdust (which cleans the fur) in the drum.

Furthermore, the fur coats may be run in the cleaning drums with the sawdust from fifteen minutes to several hours, depending upon the nature of the fur, during which step of the process the fur coat is reinforced by my auxiliary lining, being protected and strengthened by the same, and I have found that I am able to clean the fur of the coat virtually as thoroughly and completely and as desirably as if the fur were unattached to the lining, yet I save the labor and time of removing the lining or of cleaning any sawdust or dust of the same from the lining and from between the lining and the fur of the coat.

My auxiliary linings B may be used over and over again, it being only necessary to thoroughly launder them after they have served their purpose in cleaning a coat. The linings are quickly and easily removed by ripping the chain stitch H] which secures the same to the coat, as illustrated in Figure 4, thus making my process more economical.

In my process, before the auxiliary lining B is removed from the fur coat after the same has been run in the drum with the sawdust, the coat is put into a caking drum which operates to chase the sawdust out of the fur and may be vacuum treated or blown with compressed air 'as well as heating. Then any special spotting may be carried out in the ordinary manner. The rips that have been sewn from the outside may then be removed and resewn (from the inside of the coat, and the fur may be ironed or glazed (if a beaver or seal) as the case may require.

The furrier method of cleaning heretofore has been the best known method of cleaning fur coats, however, its greatest disadvantages are that the sawdust or other cleaning material used, penetrates in between the leather side and the inside of the lining of the coat and into the seams of the lining, and by so doing necessitates a great amount of labor in opening the lining and ridding the inside of the coat of this sawdust by the use of compressed air, vacuum, etc. Not only is this old method costly as one coat may get much more sawdust in between the lining and the leather than another and which necessitates much higher cost in ridding the coat of the sawdust, but it is impractical because a great deal more Work may be done on one coat than is required by another coat, making the average cost of cleaning a fur coat quite high, as well as not accomplishing the best results in cleaning the fur coat and its lining. Further, under this old furrier method, both the fur and the lining are simultaneously tumbled in the same sawdust, and the soil of the lining and the soil of the fur, plus the solvent on the lining and the solvent on the fur, are intermixed in the absorbent sawdust material, making an undesirable condition in the cleaning drum and having an undesirable effect on the fur.

I have overcome all of these undesirable features of the old furrier method and have provided a new and effective process of cleaning fur coats with the lining remaining in the same, in an economical manner and by a process which is more desirable than the old furrier method because I am able to more thoroughly simultaneously clean both the lining and the fur of a coat. Further, my process virtually eliminates the difficulties encountered with the cleaning sawdust. It will be apparent that with my method, the sawdust is quickly removed from the fur, and not having a chance to work into the lining, is just as quickly removed from the outer or exposed surface of my auxiliary lining. Therefore, my process and method of cleaning fur coats accomplishes a long felt want in the art of cleaning fur coats because I have found that the fur of the coat can be brought to virtually its original sheen and character .even though the fur and lining may have been badly soiled before my process was employed.

In accordance with the patent statutes I have described the principles of my method and while I have set forth certain details and features, I desire to have it understood that the same are only illustrative and my invention is within the scope of the following claim.

I I claim:

The method of cleaning a fur coat while the regular fixed lining is attached thereto, consisting in sewing up all the rips in the leather of the fur coat, providing an auxiliary lining made of turkish toweling material having absorbing nature, wetting the fixed lining of the fur coat with a solvent to clean the same, stitching the auxiliary lining marginally around all edges of the fur coat to seal and cover the fixed lining by the auxiliary lining, drumming with cleaning sawdust adapted to clean the fur, continuing the drumming until the fur is thoroughly cleaned, caging the coat to remove the sawdust and otherwise removing the sawdust from the fur and the outer surface of the auxiliary lining, and removing the auxiliary lining.

ROBERT E. ALBRECHT. 

